Hydraulic ram



J. E. LESTER.

HYDRAULIC RAM.

ARPL'ICATION FILED SEPT-13,,I9l5.

1,214,192. I Patented Jan.30,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mr mwms PETERS m. snow-unto WASHINGI'UN. u. c.

JOHN E. LESTER, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

HYDRAULIC RAM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN EMERY Lns'rnn, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Tacoma, in thecounty of Pierce and State ofIVashin'gton, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in HydraulicRams, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hydraulic rams, and it is the object thereof toprovide a simple, efficient and durable ram mechanism, particularlyadapted for operation under low driving heads, and for elevating largevolumes of water to moderate elevations, as for irrigation purposes.

My invention relates particularly to the valve structure of the ram, andprovides a waste-valve adapted to close' a horizontal passage, and atclosed position to deflect the moving current of water toward thedelivery-valve with aminimum loss of velocity.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for adjusting themechanism to vary the rate of operation thereof, and means forcushioning. the movement of the valve counterweight at the end of thesudden closing movement.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof a mechanism embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a partial rear endviewthereof, portions being in transv'erse vertical section, Fig. 3 is ahorizontal sectional view taken through the air-chamber, Fig. 4 is adetail transverse vertical section on the plane of the line mm of Fig.1, Fig. 5 is a detail end view of the cushioned counterweight, and Figs.6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic longitudinal sectional views illustratingthe operation of the mechanism.

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention I provide a rectangularvalve-casing formed by side-plates 1, a bottom-plate 2 and a top-plate3, preferably secured together along the corners by connectingangle-bars 4 and 5 riveted thereto, as shown. At the front end of thecasing a flanged plate 6 is secured thereto, the same having at itslower edge laterally projecting foot-lugs 7 for attachment to a suitablebase or foundation for the ram. The drive-pipe or supply pipe 8, throughwhich water is supplied to the valve-chamber, is connected with theplate 6 by suitable bolts, the diameter of the pipe and of the openingthrough the plate being the same as the width of the valve-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

Application filed September 13, 1915. Serial No. 50,486.

cross-section and made of suitable yieldable material. Said channel-ringsurrounds an opening in the plate 3, through which water enters theair-chamber from the valvechamher, the opening being normally closed bythe delivery-valvelt. The deliveryvalve co1nprises a circular platehaving beveled edges which rest normally upon the seat-ring 13. On theupper side of the valve plate 14, at the center thereof, are a pair ofstandards 15, and a similar pair of standards 16 are mounted on theplate 3 behind the channelring 12. A double pair of parallelvertically-spaced arms 17 have their ends pivotally connected with thestandards 15 and 16, and said arms by swinging about their pivots on thestandards 16, permit" the valve 14: to raise freely off its seat, buthold it constantly in a horizontal position, as will appear from thepositionsthereof indicated in Fig. 1.

Adjacent to the rearward edge of the delivery-valve opening through theplate 3, a shaft 18 extends transversely through the casing, the ends-ofthe shaft being supported bythe side-plates 1. Said shaft 18 forms apivotal support for the waste-valve, which comprises a flat rectangularplate 19 of which one edge-portion 20 is curled around the shaft 18, andthe opposite edge is bent to form a transversely-extending angular lip21. On the side-plates 1 are secured angularly-extending plates 22, andon the bottom-plate 2 is secured a transverse bar 23, said plates andbar forming abutments for the edges of the waste-valve when the same isin closed position. An anglebar 2% extends transversely beneath theplate 3 behind the valve-shaft 18, contacting with the curledcylindrical portion 20 and forming a joint therewith. To the lower sideof the valve-plate 19 is secured the end of an arm 25 which extendsrearwardly therefrom and carries a counterweight which is adjustablelongitudinally of the arm. The counterweight comprises a T-shaped body26 which fits slidably on the bar and is held in variable relationsthereto by a set-screw 27, and a main body 28 which rests normally ontop of the T-shaped bodyl Studs 29 extend down from the body 28 throughthe lateral flanges of the T-body, and springs 30 are disposed aroundthe studs between the heads thereof and the flanges, so that bycompression of the springs the body 28 may be raised relatively to thebody 26. The counterweight is so arranged that it 'will tend to swingthe valve about the axis of the shaft 18 to a horizontal raised or openposition, such as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. At this positionthe'mov'ement is limited by a stopscrew 31 carried by a plate 32 whichis secured to the base or foundation on which the ram is mounted. Theopen or raised position of the valve may be varied by suitableadjustments of the stop-screw, so that the lip 21 of the valve willextend down more or less below the upper edge of the opening to thevalve-chamber from the drive-pipe 8.

In the operation of the ram, when the waste-valve is in open positionthe Water from the pipe 8 flows freely through the valve-chamber, beingonly very slightly retarded by impinging on the inclined lip 21 at thefront edge of the valve. The counterweight is so adjusted, however, thatwhen the current reaches a certain velocity the force of the waterstriking the lip '21 will be suflicient to start a downward swingingmovement of the valve toward the closed position thereof. After thebegin ning of the movement of the valve toward closed position it willpass to said position at substantially the same velocity as that of thewatercurrent flowing through the casing, since the valve will intercepta greater part of the current and will be more powerfully actuatedthereby the nearer it approaches the closed position, as will beapparent from Fig. 6 of the drawings, wherein the valve is shown at anintermediate position assumed during the closing movement. As thewaste-valve reaches the closed position shown in Fig. 7, the current isdeflected upwardly thereby against the delivery-valve 14:, and thefam'iliar ram effect of the moving mass of water in the supply pipe 8produces a pressure sufiicient to open the delivery-valve so that a partof the water will pass up into the air-chamber, thence flowing throughthe pipe 11. to any desired place. As the water in the pipe 8 comes torest the deliveryvalve closes, and a reaction occurs during which thecounterweight descends and the waste-valve swings up to the openposition.

By adjusting the screw 31 to vary the open position of the valve, therate of operation of themechanism is controlled, since the farther thelip 21 projects down into the path of the water current the lessvelocity of, flow will be required to start the closing movement of thevalve.

During the closing of the waste-valve, and especially toward-the end ofthe movement, the counterweight is moved upward quite rapidly, and"at'the end of the closing movement, when the valve strikes the abutnients formed by the parts 22 and 23, this movement o'f thecounterweight is suddenly checked. At this time the springs 30, bypermitting a slight additional movement of the main body of thecounterweight, have a cushioning effect and serve to prevent unduestress upon the arm 25, which might result in bending or breaking thesame.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention provides a simple,positive and durable ram mechanism, adapted to operate under a very lowhead of water, and capable of working with a maximum efiiciency owing tothe completely unrestricted flow permitted when the waste-valve is open,and the very slight retardation of flow to the delivery-valve when thewastevalve is closed.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a hydraulic ram, a supply pipe, a casing connected therewith andhaving a direct horizontal passage alined with the supply pipe, awaste-valve pivotally mounted in the casing and swingable from an openposition substantially parallel with thehorizontal passage to a closedposition extending angularly across said passage, a delivery-valvecontrolling a lateral outlet from the horizontal passage adjacent tothat edge of the waste-valve which is farthest from the supply pipe, andmeans connected with the waste-valve and tending to swing the sametoward the open position thereof.

2. In a hydraulic ram, a waste-valve pivoted on a horizontal axis andswingable from a horizontal open position to an in clined closedposition, a counterweight connected with the valve and tending to swingthe same toward the horizontal open posi tion, the valve at the closedposition intercepting angularly a horizontal passage, and a partintegral with the swinging edge of the valve and projecting partiallyinto said passage when the valve is open, whereby a current through thepassage will tend to close the valve.

3. In a hydraulic ram, a casing, a supply pipe connected therewith, awaste-valve pivotally mounted in the casing and adapted to close anoutlet therefrom, a counterweight connected with the valve and tendingto swing the same from the closed position toward the supply pipe to anopen position, a lip on the valve adapted to extend partially in frontof the supply pipe opening when the valve is in open position, and meansfor adjusting the open position of the valve to vary the extent to whichsaid lip may intercept the flow of water from the supply pipe.

4. In a hydraulic ram, a valve-casing having a horizontal substantiallyunobstructed passage through the same, a supply pipe connected with thecasing at one end of the horizontal passage, the casing having a valveddelivery-passage opening laterally from the horizontal passage, awaste-valve pivotally mounted on an axis extending near the edge of thedelivery-passage remote from the supply pipe, means normally holdingsaid valve in an open position substantially parallel with thehorizontal passage, a lip on the valve adapted for engagement by awater-current flowing through the horizontal passage to swing the valvefrom the open position to a position intercepting the passage, andabutments on the casing for stopping the valve at a closed positionadapted to deflect the water-current copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the from the supply pipetoward the delivery passage.

5. In a hydraulic ram, a valve-casing having a horizontal substantiallyunobstructed passage through the same and a valved delivery-passageopening from the upper side of the horizontal passage, a supply pipeconnected-with the casing at one end of the horizontal passage, awaste-valve pivoted on a transverse horizontal aXis near the edge of thedelivery-passage remote from the supply pipe, said valve being swingableabout said axis from an inclined closed position at which it interceptsthe horizontal passage to a. horizontal open position ad joining thedelivery-passage, a counterweigllt connected ,with the valve and adaptedto move the same from closed to open position, the valve having anangular lipportion projecting near the end of the supply pipe when thevalve is in open position, and a variable stop for adjusting the openposition of the valve to increase and decrease the extent to which thelip projects into the path of a water-current from the supply pipe.

J. E. LESTER.

Commissioner of ilatentl,

Washington, D. G.

